The Rescue
by KaydenceRei
Summary: “We used to fly together Elliot,” she told him as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “But now it’s like our wings are broken, and we’re drifting away from each other…”


**Disclaimer**: Not mine. Clearly.

**A/N**: Right so, this is a songfic about Olivia coming home to SVU after having been undercover for quite a few months. I know it's completely unoriginal, but I can't help myself when I find a good song.

**Song**: The Rescue  
**Artist**: American Hi-Fi

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Olivia took a slow step into the squad room that she hadn't seen in nearly six months. She didn't see John Munch, Fin Tutuola, or even her partner Elliot Stabler. She ran her fingers through her light brown hair which reached quite a bit passed her shoulders now as she searched the squad room nervously for the signs of the people she knew. She could see one thing with her brown eyes, and that was that the desk that used to belong to her, was now being occupied by another woman.

The woman in Olivia's old desk looked up at the woman in the doorway and raised an eyebrow up before standing to her feet. She walked over to the other woman, "Is there something I can do for you?"

Olivia choked back the idea of rolling her eyes and gave the woman a small smile. "I'm looking for Captain Cragen, is he here?" she asked the woman curiously.

Elliot walked in behind his temporary partner Dani Beck and the woman she was talking to. Maybe if he'd been looking at the other woman from the front, he would have known who it was, but he didn't know until he walked passed them both and turned to see her face. "Olivia?" he questioned, clearly surprised at seeing her and how different she looked.

"Elliot…" Olivia acknowledged quietly as her eyes refused to meet his. She knew that when she accepted Star's request to go undercover in Oregon that she would have to leave without anyone's knowledge of where she was, and she knew she had let her partner down by simply disappearing.

Dani turned to look at Elliot first, and then she turned back to the woman named Olivia. This was Olivia Benson, the detective who disappeared from her squad without so much as a word to her co-workers? "Oh…" was all Dani said before stepping away from Olivia and going back to her desk.

Elliot made his way back over to Olivia now as he looked at her. She had changed so much in appearance over her disappearance the last six months. He didn't need to know where she was, but he did want to know how she was doing as she seemed to stare at anything and everything except for him. "Olivia, are you okay?"

The question caught Olivia off-guard. Clearly that wasn't the question that she had been expecting. "Excuse me?" she asked as she finally looked at Elliot's face.

"You have one hell of a bruise on the side of your face Olivia, I asked if you were okay," Elliot explained. He could tell that she was bashing herself enough as it was for having left like she had, so he knew that he didn't need to say anything that would make her feel any worse about it.

Olivia touched her hand to the side of her face over a bruise she had gained at the very end of being undercover. She was staring into Elliot's eyes now, but something was off about them. There was no anger in them, and she wondered what exactly he thought happened to when she left. But there was something else missing in Elliot's eyes and it was something that she couldn't quite place.

_I wish we could go back,  
To the beginning,  
Cause there's something missing from your eyes.  
We lost a lifetime,  
When I disappeared,  
Now I am coming back to you._

"Liv?" Elliot questioned, using her nickname that was mostly used on her only when himself and the other detectives were worried about her. "Are you?" he asked her. He really was more concerned now because she seemed to drift into her own world, something that she never really used to do.

Olivia had drifted so far off that she had forgotten the actual question that Elliot asked her. "Am I what?" she asked him. She could see how worried he was about her, and she felt even more guilt rise up in her.

Dani looked up from where she was sitting and gave Olivia an odd look before going back to what she was doing. Maybe whoever hit her and made that bruise knocked a few parts of 'good memory' out of the other detective's head or something.

Elliot gave Olivia a really strange look before taking her hand and leading her up the stairs of the building towards the roof. Once they got up there he closed the door and turned to look at her, "What's going on with you Olivia?"

"What are you talking about?" Olivia asked him as she tilted her head to the side. She'd play it dumb for sure, because she knew very well she wasn't supposed to talk about what she had been doing.

Elliot couldn't hide the look of annoyance that grew on his features. "Olivia, you've been gone for six months, you left without saying a word," he said to her. He noticed her mouth clamp shut as the guilt flooded over her facial expression and he felt a pang of guilt now himself. He hadn't meant for his words to come out the way that they had, but it happened anyways and he regretted it quickly. "I asked twice if you were okay Olivia, and you didn't even notice what I'd asked."

Olivia let a sigh escape her lips and she stepped away from Elliot and made her way towards the edge of the building. She looked down at the world below them, the innocence of the city. "It was something I had to do Elliot…" she said softly as she stared down at the ground.

"Leaving?" Elliot questioned. "Why was leaving all of us something you felt like you had to do?" he questioned next. It wasn't that he was angry with her, but he realized his words could be taken the wrong way.

Olivia let her tongue roll over her dry lips in a nervous reaction. She shook her head as she turned around and leaned her back against the siding. "You know," she started out, knowing she was changing the subject on him. "We used to fly together Elliot," she told him as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "But now it's like our wings are broken, and we're drifting away from each other…"

Elliot stared at Olivia and tried to figure out exactly what her encrypted words really meant.

_I wish I could fly, I know I can save us somehow,  
You thought you were safe and sound but you need a hero now.  
You gotta believe even with broken wings,  
I've come to your rescue and you can't rescue me._

"I'm so sorry Elliot," Olivia said quietly. She shook her head slightly in disapproval of herself and her sad inability to explain her own actions to her best friend, to her partner.

Elliot only nodded slightly in response to what she said to him.

Olivia closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. Although it was summer, she felt so cold at the moment. She bit down lightly on her lower lip before walk passed Elliot and opening the door that lead back into the building. She stopped for a moment and turned to look back at him before making her way back down the stairs and back into the squad room.

"No way!" John Munch's voice sounded out suddenly.

Olivia froze at the bottom of the steps, for a moment thinking she had been noticed once again. But when she looked towards the sound of John's voice, she noticed it was a reaction to something Fin had said to him. She let a sigh of relief out before she noticed that Elliot's new partner Dani was looking at her. She looked away quickly as she made her way to the doors of the squad room, praying to not be noticed again.

"No," Fin's voice said next. "_That_ is '_no way!_'" he said as he noticed Olivia trying to make a quick rush for the doors to the squad room. "Olivia, hold up," he said quickly as he moved towards her. He stopped her just as she had her hand on the door to leave.

Olivia licked her lips nervously once again, a trait she had somehow picked up while she'd been undercover as another woman. After a moment her eyes drifted to look at Fin, and after that, they looked at John.

"I'll be damned," John said with a grin before wrapping his arms around Olivia. "I'm glad you're okay, you had us all worried Olivia," he told her before letting her go.

Olivia could practically feel the weight of the world on her shoulders at that very moment. How could she keep pretending she had just needed personal time? It wasn't right to like to the people who had become so much of her family over the years.

Fin and John each gave each other an odd look, but that was when they too noticed the bruise that was probably a few days old at best on the side of Olivia's face. "What happened to you Olivia?" John questioned as he stared at her bruise in disbelief. He moved his hand towards the bruise, but suddenly Olivia moved away from him, almost seeming to cower from his hand.

John wasn't the only one to catch the look in Olivia's eyes when John's hand came towards her already bruised face. Fin and Dani had caught the look as well. Fin looked concerned now as well, but Dani went on pretending she was paying no mind and keeping out of their business, she never did feel as though she had fit in with the squad.

"If the captain isn't around then I should go," Olivia said quickly as she turned to place her hand on the door handle again. But the door was already open, and the captain was standing right there in the doorway and blocking her only means of an exit.

_Summer's the season,  
But you're cold and freezing,  
If there's a reason, it's a lie.  
When did I loose you,  
I need you to pull through,  
The weight of the world never felt so alive._

"Olivia, welcome back," Cragen said. He knew what she had been doing, even if his detectives clearly had no idea. The bruise on the side of Olivia's face was a clear indication that something had happened while she was undercover for Star, but he had also seen the way she backed away from John's hand, and that was another indication. He moved passed her to his office, and a few moments later he reemerged within the squad room holding Olivia's badge and gun out to her.

Olivia's eyes stared blankly at the gun and badge in her captain's hands.

Elliot had reached the bottom of the stairs to see Cragen holding the gun and badge out to Olivia. He silently watched as he leaned against the wall.

"I'm sorry," were the only words Olivia could manage out. She didn't take the items that had once belonged to her back from her captain; instead she left them in his hands. "I can't take those back," she said quietly.

Elliot's mouth dropped in response to Olivia's denial of her job back. It was then that he realized something happened to her that had changed the way she thought about things. Something had broken that strong woman he had once known, and it was probably the same thing that gave her that bruise.

Everyone looked shocked by Olivia's words, even Dani who had kept working on her paperwork suddenly stopped and turned to look at Olivia.

Olivia noticed immediately how quiet everyone had gotten, and once more her tongue moved over her lips nervously. She reached for the door again, and this time she opened it and walked out. She hadn't wanted to do that in front of everyone, but she didn't have much of a choice at that point.

Elliot moved quickly to the doors of the squad room and pulled the doors open. He didn't care what the others thought at this moment, but he wasn't going to let Olivia walk back out of the squad for a second time. She needed someone to care about her, and he wanted to be the person who _saved_ her.

_I wish I could fly, I know I can save us somehow,  
You thought you were safe and sound but you need a hero now.  
You gotta believe even with broken wings,  
I've come to your rescue and you can't rescue me._

"Olivia," Elliot called out to her. He didn't quite catch her on the elevator, so he took the stairs down to catch up with her. By the time that he had gotten to the bottom of the stairs, she was exiting the doors of the building. This time he moved a little more quickly to get her and caught up with her just out side. "Olivia, wait!"

Olivia looked up and stared at Elliot as he came over to her. She raised an eyebrow up curiously at her old partner. Old… that was something she never thought she'd be referencing to Elliot as. "What is it?" she asked him. By all accounts, Elliot should have been angry with her for leaving without saying a word.

Elliot searched Olivia's eyes for any sign of what had happened to her, but he couldn't seem to figure it out. "What happened to you when you were undercover Olivia?" he asked her suddenly. He had known very well what it was she must have been doing. It was obvious to him the day she had left when Cragen had told him he couldn't tell him where Olivia was.

"I can't…" Olivia whispered to him in response. She wanted so badly to tell him what happened, but to be truthful, she was afraid to tell him. She was afraid of what he might think if he found out.

Elliot took Olivia's hand in his. "You can tell me anything Olivia," he told her softly. "Just tell me what happened to you," he suggested in a soft tone of voice that he wasn't aware he'd even had.

Olivia simply shook her head again as she attempted to turn away from Elliot again.

_I wish I could fly, I know I can save us somehow,  
You thought you were safe and sound but you need a hero now.  
You gotta believe even with broken wings,  
I've come to your rescue and you can't rescue me._

Elliot suddenly remembered Olivia's words on the rooftop. It was clear to him now, at this point, what it was that Olivia had been talking about up there.

"_We used to fly together Elliot," she told him as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "But now it's like our wings are broken, and we're drifting away from each other…"_

Elliot was quick to say something before Olivia pulled away from him for good this time. "We can still fly Liv," he told her suddenly. "The wings may be broken, but we can fix that," he said softly as she turned to look at him once more. "Let me help you."

Olivia took in a deep breath as she looked at Elliot. "It got screwed up El…" she told him. "The FBI tried to come in too quickly and it all went to hell," she said quietly. "They caught on in the end that I wasn't one of them, and I was afraid Elliot…" she told him as she looked down.

"Afraid of what, Olivia?" Elliot asked her. He didn't want to push it too far, and if she didn't want to keep going then he wouldn't make her.

Olivia bit her lower lip lightly before answering his question. "I was afraid that I might not see you again," she told him. "I thought I was going to die and never get to see you, to tell you…"

Elliot looked at Olivia, searching her eyes for what she meant. "Tell me what?" he asked, wondering exactly what it was she would have wanted him to know.

"I love you Elliot…" Olivia whispered out. "I always have, and I never knew how to tell you, but then when I thought I wouldn't be able to…" she sighed and shook her head. "I never want to be in that position again."

Elliot was shocked by Olivia's words. "You can't leave SVU then Olivia," he told her. He smiled softly at her as he erased the surprised look.

Olivia looked at Elliot strangely. "I don't think you understand El…"

Elliot grinned. "I understand, and I would never want to be in the position where I could never tell you I love you too," he told her.

"You… wait, what?" she said suddenly. She stared at him in sheer disbelief.

Elliot let a chuckle escape between his lips. "You're the only person I trust to keep me out of a position like that Olivia, I need you as my partner," he told her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I love you too."

Olivia let a small smile form on her lips at his words. Maybe for him she could keep working in SVU, or at least try to keep working in there, then she was at least with him. After another moment, she moved her face forward and captured his lips in a kiss. She could keep going, just for this man.

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**So how was this one-shot? Just my own little view on how things could turn out as Olivia comes back to SVU after her undercover job. I realize this really isn't a unique idea for a fanfic, but I hope it was at least SOMEWHAT good. Hope you enjoy it, it was fun to write. -Kay**


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